Tuesday, August 23, 2016

How to Create a Homework Station

Stella officially started first grade this week! The carefree days of kindergarten have past and things start to get real this year - like having daily homework to do! To get her ready for her new big kid work, I headed to At Home to find all everything I needed to create a homework station. I'm hoping this little spot carved out near our kitchen table will make it exciting for Stella to tackle her assignments each day and keep all her markers, pencils, notebooks, and scissors easily accessible without us having to track them down around the house (you know how that goes!)

Read on to see how you can make your own DIY homework station in minutes with a cart, a few storage baskets, and some fun chalkboard labels. It's portable too!

How to Make a Homework Station

1. Carve out a dedicated homework spot

I found this vintage school desk at the Goodwill last fall and gave it a fun makeover with vinyl. I set it near our kitchen table overlooking the backyard. I liked that Stella could have her own desk rather than working on the dining table, and by keeping it in the kitchen I could still help her with questions while I'm making dinner. Determine where your child works best, whether it is at the kitchen table or at a desk in their room and make that their dedicated homework spot each day.

2. Add a cart
The desk looked a little lonely and out of place by itself, but the addition of the cart establishes this spot as the homework nook! A cart like this metal mesh tray cart is an incredibly versatile storage piece. The best part is you can easily roll it to wherever you need it. I love the teal color of this cart from At Home, but it also comes in silver and gold! If you don't have a cart, a small bookcase or even a kitchen cabinet dedicated to homework supplies would work.

3. Corral the school supplies

Use smaller baskets and containers to keep school supplies organized within the cart. A pair of colorful plastic totes from At Home fit perfectly on each shelf. I further divided them using empty soup cans to hold colored pencils and markers.

One thing I realized after Stella went to kindergarten last year is to take advantage of the back-to-school sales and stock up on supplies for the year for a fraction of the price. I buy multiple packs of crayons, markers, pencils, and glue because it is amazing how fast we run through them in our house, and Stella will often need to refresh her supplies at school too.

4. Labels make everything better!

I love labels because they give the illusion of being organized, whether you actually are or not! I'm hoping these chalkboard labels will help Stella and Hazel to put their supplies back where they belong, and I can always change them up as needed.

P.S. If you're looking for these labels at the At Home stores, you'll find them by the checkout!

5. Have ample workspaceThis school desk is the perfect size for Stella to work at, and has some extra built-in storage for papers and notebooks. If your child is older and uses big text books and a computer, make sure you have ample workspace for them to work comfortably.

I got Stella and Hazel each a letter sticky notepad from At Home. While not super applicable for their school work, they love having something with their special initial and have been incorporating them into their art projects at home!

6. Stay organized with a calendar

This chalkboard weekly calendar is a removable wall decal. So handy! I used chalkboard markers to write down some important deadlines throughout the week.

7. Get to work!

Now that your homework station is all set up, it's time to get to work! We'll give this a test run with Stella's first homework assignment this afternoon. ;)

Head to your local At Home store to find all the fun desk accessories and storage items used for this post including the cart, colorful plastic totes, chalkboard labels, and calendar!

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